Winter ODP training?

My son is an '03 in Illinois and went through it last year. It is quality training with quality coaches. Having said that, I am reluctant to say it's worth the time and money. I don't believe 4 hours once a month, 2 training / 2 scrimmaging (with very little coaching during the scrimmaging) provides the consistency / repetition / reinforcement for development that will likely "stick" on its own. HOWEVER, if you believe the ODP coaches will think your child is one of the 15 best players his / her age in Illinois, it may be worth it from the perspective of making the state team and being ID'd for college, etc. If you think your child is one of the top 200 kids in Illinois, but may need some development to be in the top 30, I would not recommend doing it unless: 1) money is burning a hole in your pocket, 2) your family has way too much time on its hands, and (maybe most importantly) 3) your child lives for soccer and will do anything he/she can to get better.

From my son's point of you, I believe he would tell you he enjoyed it. Generally, most of the kids belong there (though there were some that should have definitely saved the time/money) so the training was with kids that knew how to play at a high level.

 

My son did ODP training for 2 years. First year signed him up looking at it like a camp. He did well and made to festival (U12). Based on recommendation from his ODP coach signed him up for the following year. Made the winter friendlies and ultimately the state team. He did well at the games and was told by his coach (along with approx. 5 others) to pack bags as they would be selected to the regional holdover. Long story short 3/5 weren't asked and 3 others were - based on selection it was apparent that those with connections (ie large clubs with academy programs, clubs whose coaches were also ODP coaches) were selected over those that lacked these connections.

Ultimately I think it was good for my son not to make the regional camp - made him work harder. We chose not to attend ODP the following year and instead will be attending ID camps, college camps where you get more bang for your buck.

PROS: Playing with kids that are same level/dedicated, good coaching
CONS: Inconsistent coaching - first year we received detailed player assessment upon completion of cycle, second year had very brief/limited feedback likely due to coaching change mid cycle, cost (some states very cheap, other states expensive)

 

I take issue with the assumption your kid did not get picked because of connections. Your making assumptions that the coaches are not professional, or that they are dishonest. Kids who play in large clubs with academy programs, and clubs with ODP coaches may have gotten better coaching. I also dislike making excuses, and letting your kid make excuses for not making it. This attitude weakens the program.
We don't play for a mega club but do have an ODP coach. When a dad realized this he immediately started complaining. When his kid did not get picked he called IWSL and complained that all the kids from our club were picked and it was not fair, they added his Guy's kid to the team. The thing is my kid was not picked and they were not the only one. When I think of this I get offended at the implication that our coach would manipulate things, it also implies the kids who did go really didn't deserve to go.
Are you saying that the kids who were picked were undeserving? Different coaches see different things.

 

First of all we did not make excuses for my kid. Basically told him what you said (different coaches see different things). He has worked harder because of it.

The main reasons we did not attend the following year:
Inconsistent coaching - one coach (had never seen kids/one of their final training sessions) came to a session and asked the kids "who plays defense" multiple kids raised hands and his next response was "I want you four on defense you are the tallest" - Is that how we want our ODP program to run????? No wonder we don't qualify for Olympics.
Lack of feedback regarding my child (ie strengths/weaknesses)
Cost versus benefit. Could easily attend a couple college ID camps or one overnight camp

I don't think a coach would "manipulate" things but would fight for players being on team (ie if they had a "bad" showing at the camp/games) when picking final teams

ODP already is a weakened program. Cost/access limit many players from attending.

 

my daughter did Pre-ODP and seemed to like it. What are other things we can do beside ODP that people would recommend?

 

I think that ODP is great for the younger ones - u14 and under to experience how other coaches function - of course besides offering more and sometimes - different, time on the ball.

However ODP - just like many programs have been diminished based on the split of USClub and USYouth.

So you're not going to find the best players - nor the best coaches. But again, it's additional time on the ball where players learn to play with different mates under different coaches and I find that there is value to that for sure.

It is by no means a path to college or professional ranks. We just had an article that stipulated that it accounts for less then 10% of college players. Not bad but no where near ECNL numbers for girls and not even close to boys DA.

Now before some members get their undies in a wad, I'm clearly not saying there is no value, there in fact is. It's just that parents should set expectations accordignly in that it's not the path forward as it once was.

 

ODP has been dying ever since DA's and ECNL have taken over for high level players. ODP is now for left overs who didn't make the DA's.

 

Thanks all for the feedback. we have another ODP session this weekend. Any other training you recommend? We do Koerver now and she really likes it. Coaches have said she has to work on finishing in the last 1/3

 

How old is your player? If Pre-ODP I think that's 2007 and under???

Seems a lot of running around for ODP, Koerver and Club play.